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Opinion

The Ride less taken A local woman noticed that the driver of a familiar looking car labeled “The Ride” had been honking for awhile this past August, so she went out that afternoon to check. The Ride, according to its operator, the MBTA, “provides door-to-door, shared ride transportation to eligible people who cannot use...

The secretive, private committee of tycoons and special interests behind Boston’s 2024 Summer Olympics bid has committed Franklin Park—and the surrounding Jamaica Plain area—to serving as a heavily impacted venue with no local input whatsoever. That is no accident or oversight. It is the well-considered, cynical tactic of the land-grabbing gentrification and privatization scheme...

We are fortunate in Jamaica Plain to be able to purchase a terrific cup of coffee, a useful tool for cooking a meal, a gift for a friend’s new baby, or a wholesome loaf of bread for dinner—all from locally-owned, independent businesses whose shop owners care about our neighborhood and are invested in our...

In the week since Tom Menino passed away, much has been said about his stature as one of Boston’s great mayors. We’ll add that he would have been one of its great ex-mayors, too. The most remarkable thing about Menino was his unfeigned guy-from-the-old-neighborhood localism. Unlike virtually any pol you care to name, he...

With our fundraising officially over, I’m thrilled to report that Wilderness Heals, a three-day hiking event in the White Mountains of New Hampshire to raise funds for the Elizabeth Stone House, has reached and surpassed our goal by raising more than $200,000. The Elizabeth Stone House provides residential and non-residential programs and services, as...

Most of us like to think we have government programs and funding in place to help poor and disabled people and their children in Massachusetts. We do, to some extent, but the state, under the well-worn label of “reform,” appears to be trying to reduce the number of recipients of Transitional Aid to Needy...

As the Gazette makes its twice-a-year return to Roslindale this week, we recall that neighborhood’s recent demographic history as a place where many JP artists and families relocated to escape skyrocketing housing prices and still have a great quality of life. The City’s new housing report, however, shows the displacement of lower-income, and increasingly...

The Boston City Council voting itself a 23 percent pay raise—with a salary topping $100,000 a year—practically editorializes against itself. While people who can’t vote themselves a tax-funded raise struggle or are driven out of town, while many City agencies starve for resources, one might wonder why they deserve a raise at all, let...

A very large coffee chain in Europe, Caffè Nero, currently being boycotted in Great Britain because it exploits a loophole to avoid paying corporate taxes, is close to coming to 733 Centre St. They already have one café in Boston and plan on opening up to 10 more in the next five years. Many...

On Nov. 4, voters have critical decisions to make at the polls. Among the most important are the four ballot questions, each of which is key for building a strong and progressive future for Massachusetts. The JP Progressives have endorsed—and urge your support—for voting “no-yes-yes-yes.” No on Question 1, to keep the T funded....